Sports of The Times; Free Agency: A New Open Door Policy?

THE final push for labor peace in the National Football League came last week in Dallas. That was when the owners offered their negotiating team an extra nudge and told them to close the deal.

In part, that action led to the joint announcement Tuesday that the players and the owners had reached a tentative settlement on a new working agreement that would include the N.F.L.'s first comprehensive free-agency plan.

It also meant that the majority of owners had finally accepted that 1993 will usher in a new era of pro football, a new marketplace and landscape, a new way of doing business.

If the deal is closed next week and is subsequently approved by the courts, on next Feb. 1 there will be tempting free agents available for teams that believe they are two or three key players short of becoming a Super Bowl contender. Other free agents will be available for middle-road teams approaching playoff caliber. Even for the league's worst teams, solid free- agent signings could become a fast route to gaining respectability.

Having accepted the system, now some N.F.L. owners must accept an overhaul in the way they have developed relationships with their players. The Us versus Them mentality must be replaced with a more powerful sense of partnership and fair play.

There will be a deep pool of players who must be courted. Not only will there be veterans, eligible for free agency after five years, but also a new group of college players. Since the draft is expected to be reduced from 12 to 7 rounds, fewer players will be drafted and more will be free to cut their own deals. Along with the money required for attracting both groups, many N.F.L. teams will need a new image and focus, a stronger and more clear commitment to winning and to player services and relationships.

The Dallas Cowboys will be among the front-runners in this new market and the owner, Jerry Jones, is the chief reason why.

There was a special spirit evident among the Cowboys here on Monday night when Dallas crushed the Atlanta Falcons in a 41-17 victory. The victory gave Dallas its first National Conference East title since 1985 and a first-round bye in the N.F.C. playoffs.

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Those achievements and a 12-3 record certainly promote spirit and unity. But Jones has done more. He knows plenty about forming positive relationships with players.

Most N.F.L. owners shy away from such closeness with players. But in the new era, besides featuring effective schemes and coaching, those teams that promote harmony and trust with players, those that invest in them personally and treat them as business partners rather than servants, will be the most successful.

It begins with ownership.

Some owners in the N.F.L. are near mythic figures to their players. Alex Spanos, the San Diego Chargers' owner, visited his team's locker room after it clinched a playoff berth last Sunday and it was his first post-game visit since 1987. Why the wait? The Jets' owner, Leon Hess, spoke with his team after the tragic injury to Dennis Byrd and some of the Jets were stunned. Why was a tragedy required for him to become more visible, more personally involved, to let the players know, first-hand, that he cares and that his commitment to them and to the team remains sound?

Sure, free agents will look for more dollars, but they will also ask these kinds of questions about ownership. In many instances, it will be their deciding factor.

Jerry Jones is on the sidelines during every Dallas game and in the locker room afterward. He is always clasping his players' hands, offering an encouraging word, always keeping communication lines open. Jones does not have a Utopia in Dallas and his approach is not the only way.

It is simply the best way.

"Every player knows that I have an open door for any of their concerns and that I do care," Jones said in the Dallas locker room in the Georgia Dome on Monday night, giddy over the possibility that Dallas could finish the regular season with 13 victories, the most ever in team history. "Negotiations on players contracts can be tough. Cutting players can be cruel. But I'm not going to let anything, especially the financial dealings of my team, ruin the thrill of this for me and for all of us. It is tough enough what the players have to go through on the field. Off it, I just try to be a little extra cushion."

His approach is a reason why Dallas -- a solid Super Bowl contender this year -- will be for years to come and why in 1993 it will have a line of free agents knocking on its door.

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A version of this article appears in print on December 24, 1992, on Page B00009 of the National edition with the headline: Sports of The Times; Free Agency: A New Open Door Policy?. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe